The Gilbert River system snakes its way through the Etheridge Shire and flows out into the Gulf of Carpentaria, sustaining a variety of primary industries along the way.

Virginia Tapp

Developers of a $2 billion agricultural project in North Queensland have announced they could begin construction as early as next year.

Integrated Food and Energy Development (IFED) is proposing to harvest 530,000 megalitres of water per year from the Gilbert River system to run a cattle and cropping operation.

The community of Georgetown stands to quadruple in size if the project goes ahead, but locals are divided on the grand plans of IFED.

Greg Ryan, from Green Hills station, attended a community meeting held by IFED to discuss the finer details of the project.

He says there are many logistical issues yet to be resolved.

"Infrastructure, development, and just a workforce to carry out the whole project, and funds to fund it.

"I'm very sceptical about it. I just don't think it's going to be achievable to pull it off in this district.

"My concern is that the project will change ownership or management halfway through and the community will be left with a half-finished project."

IFED proposes to irrigate 64,000 hectares of sugar cane, guar bean and fodder crops, processing the sugar and guar bean on site, while using the fodder crops to supplement the cattle grazing and feedlotting element of the project.

The project also includes an abattoir to enable the company to process its own cattle on site and there'll even be a rum distillery to make the most of the sugar cane by-products.

More recently, IFED has revealed the 325,000-hectare farm will include an element of aquaculture.

The company plans to build two lakes, ensuring a total water storage capacity of 2 million megalitres.

The lakes will house a commercial barramundi fishery, as well as provide water for 1,000 hectares of redclaw ponds.

While the State Government is taking the idea seriously, and has declared it a "state coordinated project", IFED is still after an injection of equity in the order of $1 billion.

The company will also need to work a bit harder to win over some of the locals, who are proceeding with caution.

Anna Burley is a local nurse and has concerns about how local health facilities would cope with an influx of people.

"We've been rattling tins and asking for services up here for a long period of time, particularly basic services like for emergency situations, so a couple of red flags have gone off in my head when I've seen this project would need 1,000 to run it."

Georgetown resident Noelene Ikin says care must be taken to protect the ecology of the Gilbert River systems in dry years.

"If they're able to balance their water take using off-stream storages, so that in our low flow events they're not extracting that same amount of water, the river can probably adjust, but if they were taking that amount of water in a low flow year I think it would have a much bigger impact."

Local farmer Ken Fry fears the State Government's current restrictions on the total water allocation from the Gilbert River will prevent the expansion of smaller farms alongside the Etheridge Integrated Agriculture Project.

"I'd like to see it go through. I think it would be good for the area, there's just a question about the amount of water that will be left over for the original farmers."

IFED does have its supporters, with Jim Haynes, from Kutchera Station, agreeing to sell his property to the company's project if approved by the State Government.

"I've been involved in this for a fair while, because Kutchera Station will be the main farming block, so all of Kutchera which is 80,000 hectares, will be under farming.

"The agreement is that they've got an option to buy down the track and if it does get up, we sell, and I think we'll have 18 months to get our stock and plant off the property."

Neither of the IFED representatives at the meeting were available for comment.